Little girls. Big hearts.

Instead of the normal pile of birthday presents, two friends (with the help of their amazing parents) in Council Bluffs, IA, decided to celebrate turning nine this past weekend by hosting a skating party where their friends brought donations instead of gifts. Abby chose a cause that is raising funds to build an religious education center to honor a friend of the family who was taken as the prime age of 34. Emma chose the Kyrie Foundation.


For us, walking into a room and seeing others wear their "Go, Kyrie, Go!" shirts was honor enough! To have these young ladies join in the fundraising was breathtaking. Their birthday choice may fund the research that saves a life! Amazing.

This is Emma and her mom, Maureen.


Maureen gave birth to twin girls in early February, number four & five for their family. She also made the girls special outfits for the party. Do you recognize little Ella Sue's onesie design?


And Ava Ann's matching ensemble?



The adults got in on the skating action, too. Here's Emma's dad, John, skating under the limbo stick--so fast, he's blurry! In the background, you can see Chad wearing his shirt, too.


And for the grand finale: a game of Red Light, Green Light.


We're so grateful to you, girls! Thank you for doing good!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful the number-one, best-selling publication ever: the bible. Sometimes it's an easy book to take for granted. No flashy cover art. No author signings. No media-blitz. Funny how the bible sets in the nightstand drawer of nearly every hotel room, waiting for a guest.

The good book has been an instrumental healing tool in the past several months—through anger, confusion, frustration, sorrow and hope. It's a whole different experience reading it on your own terms versus hearing a part of it on a Sunday. After you get past the beget-begot-begats, there's some pretty good stuff in there. ;)

Shirt Alert!

We are sold out of the Youth Small, Youth Large and Adult Medium. We have one Adult 3X left. Quantities are getting limited with the Youth Medium and the Adult Large, too.

Would love to see those snapshots, if you got 'em!

Reflection.

Been thinking a lot in the last week or so about where we've been and where we've come here on this blog. Apologies for the absence, but we wanted to make sure that we were on the right track. Believe it or not, we still have new people joining us each week! And slowly, one by one by one, all of us are teaming together to make a difference by supporting the foundation and personally challenging ourselves to do good things for others on behalf of Kyrie.

For newcomers, you may wonder what a story about an overlooked concert violinist has to do with Kyrie. Or what a quote from Gen. Patton or a video of a man singing opera or a family trip or St. Augustine has in common with Kyrie. The answer is everything. Everything here has been to honor her and to thank you.

It was here on this site that our rallying cry, "Go, Kyrie, Go!" was born out of the momentum of you choosing to do good things with your life, be it all the generosity that you bestowed on Jordan & Lacie or perhaps the good deed you did for someone while thinking of Kyrie. It was as if Kyrie was pushing people to do better, to be more, to go further. Since then, each post has been an effort to inspire you to keep going and to keep looking for opportunities to be a part of Kyrie's legacy. For some, you may appreciate more now. For others, you may be encouraged to take a leap of faith. For still others, you may have made your friends or family a new priority.

We have chosen to fight pediatric brain cancer. Another has chosen a charitable career. Another has chosen to organize frequent nights to cultivate deeper friendships. Another has chosen to begin a ministry. Yet another has chosen to give to The Kyrie Foundation in lieu of birthday gifts. And it goes on and on, like little pin lights of good shining toward the heavens.

Because of the little random quotes and stories shared here, people feel propelled, emboldened, encouraged to keep going. It's why people are sending us mail like this:



and this:



Some days are tough, though. We try to share that, too, because it's part of the complete picture. It's the human shortcoming in spite of the greater good.

Lord knows that a load of statistics wouldn't have compelled you to care for this family or about fighting pediatric brain cancer. Nor would mere business updates about the foundation. The love has been among the details, even the uncomfortable ones. Lacie & Jordan have been kind enough to share Kyrie and their story with thousands of people here, and that's what has made all the difference. She compels, just like the other heart-stirring ideas shared here. It's amazing how many lives have been touched by their little girl. And we're honored to know that you're wearing your shirts with such care and love.

So please know that so long as you are inspired, we will continue to inspire.

Thankful Thursday.

We hope that we've been able to convey how grateful we are to all of you. We're all still thankful that you're still with us, still reading these posts and still volunteering to do good things in Kyrie's honor. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I hope everyone out there is enjoying their tees! We're completely out of youth small! I'll double-check counts on the other sizes. Chad & I were talking about fundraising ideas for the foundation and he mentioned that at these functions, it would be great if people wore their Go, Kyrie, Go! shirts. That idea took my breath away. How awesome.

Lots being done for the foundation. We are officially official according to the secretary of state. Wa-hoo!

There are also some wonderful little stories bubbling up that I hope to share with you soon.

I'm learning that my July word "vision" is a lot about perspective. If I think about all the work that the foundation will entail, I begin to get overwhelmed. The whos, wheres and hows crowd out the intention. Instead, I focus on today. What can I do today to get me toward the goal? Little steps over time cover a long distance. Ask any marathon runner.

Really, that's what it's about for all of us, right? What are we doing today to get us toward the light? Sometimes today is difficult to prioritize with demanding jobs, family and bills. We think in terms of weekend plans and milestone days. But what if today were THE day? What if today were your big chance? And what if you started tomorrow--an ordinary Thursday--what if you started tomorrow on purpose?

July.

So it's now been officially three months we've been without her. Longer than we knew Kyrie even had a PNET. Seasons have changed. Life has moved on. My heart has not.

Traveling abroad, I kept hearing Jordan's voice in my mind say, "It's just not fair." And over and over again, I'd see families with small children, who, from the outside, looked impatient, unappreciative, selfish. I'd silently ask, "Why not them?" Or rude fellow passengers. Why not them? Or the terrorists. Why not them? Or the families more interested in television than each other. Why not them? Or the self-righteous. Why not them? Or vainglorious celebrities. Why not them? Or, heck, even me. Why not me?

This weekend, the family came to visit Amanda & Ryan in their new home and to celebrate our sister's birthday. Dad visited the local Catholic church to find out Mass times in their bulletin: Prince of Peace in Olathe, Kansas. And in their bulletin, do you know who was still on their prayer list? Our girl, Kyrie! What a comforting surprise! And, in a way, it made me feel like she was with us.

She is with us. Seen and unseen, remember? So this week, I'm going to keep a look out for more Kyrieness. I hope you do, too.